Students released after lockdown at Lake Middle School

Superintendent Kevin Tobin said a student showed an administrator a written note found in a bathroom containing a threat to "shoot the school up"

Repository staff report

LAKE TWP. Lake Middle School students were released to parents Friday afternoon after a shooting threat prompted a lockdown.

Superintendent Kevin Tobin said a student showed an administrator a written note found in a bathroom containing a threat to "shoot the school up" at a specific time. School administrators contacted law enforcement and enacted a "soft lockdown" — when doors are locked, students stay in classrooms and no one enters or exits the building.

The lockdown began about 11:45 a.m. and lasted roughly two hours.

"So a significant period of time because we had many students we wanted to investigate," Tobin said.

Officers believe they identified the note's author and did not think the threat was "viable," he said. The investigation was ongoing, and no one had been charged by late Friday afternoon.

Tobin said approximately 600 parents were waiting outside to pick up children once the lockdown was lifted, so the school released them in groups of 10 and operated buses as normal for the remaining students. He said student safety is the district's top priority.

"Everyone acted appropriately, and our procedures worked, as we would want them to," Tobin said.